Cello
by ElcyLupe
Summary: In which Tommy knows more than Teddy.


They were exactly alike in every way.

And maybe that was what creeped Tommy out the most, the fact that no matter what, Billy could always read him. After all, he had spent so much time hiding-from his parents, from the scientists- that someone who knew him almost flawlessly was such a contrast. It made him uncomfortable, a persistent tugging at his otherwise short-attention span. Like an itch you couldn't reach or a bruise you just realized you had and had no idea where it had come from.

The absolute worst part was, Tommy couldn't read him back.

He had spent so much time denying that he had any feelings that when confronted with those emotions playing across a face that wasn't his, but was at the same time, threw him off. So he kept to himself-mostly-trying to measure up the dark-haired teen.

As he did so, he found something out. Something so off-setting and shocking that he had no idea what to do with it.

Billy liked to disappear for indeterminate amounts of time. He'd smile and make up an excuse, then beeze out before anyone could tell he was lying. He'd miss an hour of training, on Monday and then claim it was because of his mom's work schedule. When Teddy had basketball, he'd disappear, only to reappear as soon as the practice ended. On the weekends, he'd leave and his mother would cover for him.

If Mrs. Kaplan helped him, then it couldn't be too bad, but Tommy found himself thinking of the story about Eli and the MGH drug dealers. And that made his skin crawl and itch until Billy came home, an easy, calm smile lighting his features.

Tommy would study his reincarnated brother for a long moment, looking for an hint of illegal or otherwise harmful pastimes. He'd skim the un-punctured arms, look carefully at his pupils to make sure they were dilated correctly, search his clothes for any abnormalities.

There was none. Whatever Kaplan was doing, he wasn't hurting himself.

And there was no clue until Rebecca forced him to do the laundry and he found a powdery substance on Billy's jeans. It wasn't a drug, Tommy knew, but he had no idea what it was...

He thought about asking; Billy, the parents...but if they hadn't told him yet, why would they ever? Until he got a genius idea.

"Where did Billy go?" He asked the two rascals sprawled on the living room floor. Cayden and August, Billy's five and eight year old brother respectively. Cayden look up, brown eyes wide before he waved a little hand in hello.

"Dunno," August shrugged, squinting up at his from the game board the two were playing with. "What time is it?"

"Almost dinner time."

"Oh! Then he's-"

"Shhh!" August quickly hissed, throwing the speedster a wide-eyed look as if he hoped he hadn't heard. Quite obviously he had, so Auggie sat up and crossed his arms giving his younger brother an exasperated look. "Fine. He's with Vi."

"Who?"

"A friend." Was all he got in return before the two went back to their game.

Which left Tommy feeling even more confused. Billy had never mentioned a friend, or a former boyfriend/girlfriend. Uncomfortably, he glanced at his twin from the corner of his eye as Billy smiled, lacing his fingers with Teddy's under the table. Was he cheating on his boyfriend?

Speed doubted that, simply because he doubted Billy ever cheated in his life on anything. Besides, he loved Teddy, he said it everyday.

Right...?

Oh god.

So after a month of jittery nerves and wondering if Teddy suspected anything or if Billy even did anything Tommy finally came to a conclusion. He would follow his brother.

He couldn't come up with anything more simple and the youngest Kaplans weren't saying anything. Cayden had learned his lesson and August could have gone through torture and not revealed anything else. What kind of kid refuses cake over their brothers privacy?

/././.

He watched from the top of the stairs as Teddy kissed Billy sweetly before making his way to the gym. Billy watched him go for a moment, bouncing on his toes until the double doors closed and he speed-walked down the hall in the opposite direction.

Tommy had heard his lie about studying for physics in the library, and for a second, he thought that was the truth. The Library was just at the end of this hall... But instead of turning left, Billy turned right at the end of it. And For the first time Tommy saw Vi.

She was average height, slender and with modest curves shown by a v-neck red shirt with a beige tank-top. Her skinny jeans were dark and hugged her hips, leading down to plain, black, scuffed converse. She was Hispanic he could tell, but from where he didn't know. Her brown hair was pulled back, a braid leading into a bun.

Billy greeted her with a hug and a bright smile, taking her hand and leading her into the Orchestra room.

Snapping out of his haze, Tommy sped in, creating a rush of wind that had Billy stopping in his tracks. They stared at each other for a moment, Speed with his arms crossed, eyebrow raised and Wiccan with wide eyes. Then the spell-caster sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat as a wry smile took over.

"August said you were asking." He said by way of greeting. "Tommy, this is Olivia. Vi? This is my brother, Tommy."

Tommy blanched at being introduced as such, but admitted that anything else would have made her suspicious. After all, they did look exactly alike...It didn't make him feel any better though.

"I didn't know you had a twin." Olivia spluttered, but she smiled just the same and offered her hand for a quick shake. "It's nice to meet you, Tommy. You can call me Vi."

"Hey-"

"Alright people let's get to work!" he was interrupted. Tommy turned to look at the director, a relatively young man with sorta blondish hair and bright grey eyes. The speedster remembered seeing him around the school. "Oh," he paused slightly when he saw Tommy, taking in the blonde hair and blue eyes. "Thomas, correct?"

"Yeah..." he wondered briefly what Billy had told them about himself, but decided not to ask. After all, did he really want to know?

"Well, take a seat with Vi, or do you play?" the question was accompanied by a gesture towards the stacks of cellos and the piano in the corner. Tommy shook his head quickly, watching in consideration as billy went into a back room and came out with a cello.

Just by looking at it, Tommy knew it was more expensive than the others lined up. The grain of the wood was more realistic, the varnish shiny and unscratched by hundreds of other players. Billy sat down in front of a stand as he tightened the bow, the strings lifting off the wood. Then he proceeded to layering it with an amber solid.

"Rosin." Vi said suddenly, right in his ear. He resisted the urge to jump, instead turning to look at her. "That's what its called," she continued smoothly, "It makes the hair stick to the strings and produce a better sound."

He nodded in thanks, sitting down next to her off to the side. The director was talking to Billy quietly, pointing to some places on the the music sheet. "How long has he been playing?" Tommy whispered.

"The cello? Oh about...five years now, since middle school. How long has he played an instrument? Since he was six." Vi gestured towards the Piano. "That's usually his preference, but the composition he's playing calls for a cello instead."

"How many instruments does he play?"

"Four," Vi smiled at his gobsmacked look, hazel eyes laughing at him. "The Piano, the cello, drums and sometimes the guitar-acoustic. He usually sticks to the first two though." she paused suddenly, giving him a curious look. "You don't play?"

Tommy thought about telling the truth-only briefly. But Billy was shuffling the papers to the beginning, straightening his pose and placing the bow on the strings so he shook his head quickly.

"Huh," she mused, "Billy swore you did."

Then Billy was playing.

It wasn't a slow melodious piece. It didn't wash over the listeners with sweet memories or like an easy breeze. It was loud, marching like an army across barren fields, loud cannon fire and the the vibrations rocked through Tommy's chair. Every note was precise, spaced with exactly the right amount to hint at deaths and fatalities. It was a thunderstorm, building and growing until it washed over the room and bathed it...

Then suddenly it was gone, but he was still playing, plucking at notes almost silently, like raindrops and epiphanies. It was a break in the battle. The bow met the strings again, drawing across them in a beautiful, soft rhythm. An upcoming surge-only to be knocked back again by the silence.

There was a pause in the music and then Vi was standing up next to to him a violin joining the cello as they both recreated a battle.

/././.

Tommy was silent.

Billy fidgeted nervously, watching the blonde carefully. Max was replaying the recording, he and Vi nit picking through the entire song, three movements and everything, but Tommy hadn't moved. Truth be told, Billy thought he'd have gotten bored by now, but the speedster was oddly...motionless.

"Tommy?" He whispered, hand closing around the neck of the instrument in anxiousness.

Blue eyes locked with his and Billy was thrown away by the accusation in them. "Why didn't you tell me you could..." He gestured silently towards the cello, fingers stretching out almost thoughtlessly to touch the silver strings. They pulled back before they made contact. "I thought...god I don't know what I thought, but it wasn't this." And he frowned petulantly and he looked so much like Cayden in that one second that Billy had to laugh.

"Sorry," He even had to admit to himself that he didn't sound very apologetic. "I just...It's kind of my secret-my happy place-you know?" he shrugged helplessly. "You have your own and I have this." he ventured, he half hoped Tommy would tell him, but the blonde simply nodded.

Tommy seemed to accept that, relaxing in his chair, legs spread out in front of him. "Why do you think that I play?"

Billy flushed slightly before gesturing for Tommy to hold his hand up. Speed did so, fingers reflexively curling before he consciously straightened them up. He placed his palm against his brothers, lining the fingers up. They had similar callouses on the fingertips.

"These aren't genetic," he pointed them out "You got them from playing a string instrument."

"One more thing in common, huh?" Tommy muttered sourly, face twisting into a sneer.

"Not really. My fingers are longer from the piano, and I play more than you do." he pointed out clinically, eyes narrowed in thought. "What do you play."

"I used to play the Bass," Tommy grinned, gesturing towards the enormous instrument. "In the school orchestra, then I blew it up with everything else." he smiled, wryly.

"Did you like to play though?" Max asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, I guess..." Speed shrugged, glancing back at the dark wood. "I couldn't stick to tempo very well though."

"I didn't think so." Billy grinned, closing the rest of his hand around Tommy's before standing and giving his a tug. "Come on. Practice is over I don't want Teddy panicking when he sees i'm not in the library."

Vi bounced over, colliding into Tommy and wrapping an arm around his. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" she pushed, pulling them both out of the room. "I want to see the basketball team coming out all sweaty and-"

"TMI!" Tommy shouted, throwing his hands over his ears.

"Oh, you're not gay?" Vi asked him, eyebrows raised in surprise. Then she grinned mischievously, leaning forward. "More for me I suppose," she mused, before straightening swiftly. "Bye Billy, see you tomorrow," and she flounced away, pulling headphones on as she walked.

Billy sighed in defeat, turning back to face Tommy. The blonde looked confused, blinking rapidly. "Move too fast for you, Speed?" Billy teased, swinging his bag onto his shoulder. Tommy gave him a glare that only lasted for a small second.

"Where did you two meet?"

"Kindergarten," Wiccan admitted, flexing his fingers as they walked. "She's been my best friend ever since."

"That's a long time." Tommy felt like he had to point out. Friend-ships had never really lasted that long with him.

"I guess." Billy shrugged nonchalantly. "There was a moment when I thought it would end."

"Why?"

"I told her I was gay."

Tommy frowned, "She was a homophobe?"

"Nope," Billy looked amused, "She had a crush on me." he glanced over at the blonde, raising an eyebrow.

"What?"

The amusement was getting on the speedsters nerves. What was with the knowing look and the rolling of the eyes? "Oh, nothing." the younger twin said airily. "Nothing at all."

"Shut up. There's your boyfriend," Tommy groused, pushing the cellist at the basketball player. "Go have public sex in the bathroom or something."

**And he sped away with Billy's indignant cry still ringing in his ears.**


End file.
